Imperial Innovations Group plc (AIM: IVO, “Innovations” or “the Group”), a leading technology commercialisation and investment group, has published its results for the year ended 31 July 2016.
Strategic developments
• UCL Technology Fund: committed £24.8 million to this fund alongside the European Investment Fund (EIF)
• Apollo Therapeutics: committed £3.3 million to the £40 million Joint Venture between Innovations, Cambridge Enterprise, UCL Business and AstraZeneca, GlaxoSmithKline and Johnson & Johnson
• Placing raised £100.0 million to strengthen the balance sheet
Highlights
• £69.9 million invested across 33 portfolio companies (2015: £60.8 million across 30)
- Rate of investment up 15% over previous year and more than double two years ago
- Reflects ambition and increasing maturity of portfolio companies
- 79% invested into existing portfolio companies
- Seven accelerated growth companies added to investment portfolio
• £206.4 million raised by portfolio companies in the year (2015: £479.9 million)
• Net portfolio value up to £335.1 million (2015: £327.2 million)
• Net assets £455.9 million (2015: £420.1 million)
• Pre-tax loss £63.1 million (2015 profit £15.1 million), includes £56.2 million net fair value loss:
- Quoted net fair value loss of £66.9 million (largely as a result of decline in Circassia share price)
- Unquoted net fair value gain of £10.7 million
• £198.3 million available to invest, including undrawn £50 million second loan facility from European Investment Bank (EIB) (2015: £178.1 million)
Post year-end
• Sale of Permasense to Emerson Electric for a total of £30.6 million plus up to a further £10.0 million depending on performance (Innovations share of Permasense on disposal was 22.7%)
• Two new companies added to the accelerated growth portfolio: Artios Pharma and ThisWay Global
• Crescendo Biologics signed multi-target collaboration and licence agreement with Takeda Pharmaceutical worth up to US $790 million subject to successful completion of milestones (Innovations share of Crescendo is 22.7%)
• New five year contract to run the incubator at the I-HUB, a new building at Imperial College London’s White City Campus
Russ Cummings, Chief Executive of Imperial Innovations, said:
“Last year was one of further progress, the highlights of which can be summed up as comprising four major developments and one setback.
“We significantly increased our visibility of new investment opportunities and strengthened our position in our ecosystem with the elite universities within the ‘Golden Triangle’, with the completion of two new initiatives.
“The first was our £24.8 million participation in the new UCL Technology Fund. The second was our £3.3 million commitment to Apollo Therapeutics - a new £40 million Joint Venture between Cambridge Enterprise, UCLB, three of the world’s leading pharma companies and us.
“Thirdly, we raised a further £100 million to strengthen our balance sheet which enables us to put more money to work in our unquoted portfolio.
“Our fourth key development was that many of our portfolio companies made significant technical, clinical or commercial progress and we once again increased our level of investment, including leading six major funding rounds.
“The outcome from Circassia’s Phase III trial of its cat allergy product was disappointing, and this is the principal reason why our net assets only increased by £36 million to £456 million.
“We are continuing to see a healthy stream of new investment opportunities coming from the academic, research and entrepreneurial community within the ‘Golden Triangle’, as clearly demonstrated by the two new additions to our portfolio at the start of this new financial year.”
- ENDS -
Notes to Editors
About Imperial Innovations - www.imperialinnovations.co.uk
Imperial Innovations Group plc (“Innovations”) creates, builds and invests in pioneering technology companies and licensing opportunities developed from outstanding scientific research from the ‘Golden Triangle’, the geographical region broadly bounded by London, Cambridge and Oxford.
This area has an unrivalled cluster of outstanding academic research and technology businesses, and is home to four of the world’s top 10 universities, as well as leading research institutions, the cream of the UK’s science and technology businesses and many of its leading investors.
Innovations supports scientists and entrepreneurs in the commercialisation of their ideas, through the licensing of intellectual property, by leading the formation of new companies, by recruiting high-calibre management teams and by providing investment and encouraging co-investment. Innovations remains an active investor over the life of its portfolio companies, with the majority of Innovations’ investment going into businesses in which it is already a shareholder.
Since becoming a public company in 2006, Innovations has raised more than £440 million of equity from investors, which has enabled it to invest in some of the most exciting spin-outs to come out of UK academic research. In addition, the Group has agreed £80.0 million in loan facilities from the European Investment Bank (EIB).
Between Innovations’ admission to AIM (August 2006) and 31 July 2016, Innovations has invested a total of £306.7 million across its portfolio companies, which have raised collectively investment of £1.5 billion.
Issued for and on behalf of Imperial Innovations by Instinctif Partners.
